


We'll Meet Again ...

by mariothellama



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Falling In Love, Finding your way back to your true love, First Kiss, Happy Ending, Historical Accuracy, Hope, Kuba is a captain in the Polish army, M/M, Rebuilding, Robert is a doctor, Taking a Risk, Warsaw, Warsaw Uprising 1944, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 03:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10981998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariothellama/pseuds/mariothellama
Summary: Robert and Kuba meet three times in a city torn apart by war. Can they meet for a fourth time under happier circumstances? Can Kuba keep his promise to Robert?





	We'll Meet Again ...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Blue_Night](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Night/gifts).



> My dearest Blue_Night
> 
> I have been wanting to write you a Robert and Kuba story for some time, but lacked inspiration until today, when this idea appeared in my head and wouldn't leave me alone. It is a reimagining of my Robert and Thomas WW2 story, a 'what if' Dr Lewandowki had stayed in Warsaw version of him.
> 
> This story is set in dark and difficult days and everything in it - apart from Robert and Kuba's fictional story of course! - actually happened. But this is a story about love and humanity and hope, about hope even when the world seems too broken and torn apart for hope ever to flourish again. So my hope is that you like this gift, a gift given in friendship and love.

It was sometime around the middle of September 1944, he had begun to lose track of the days as they all looked the same now. The uprising had begun about six weeks ago and the initial euphoria had been replaced by grim determnation. He was tired, tired to the bone, having barely slept for the last month, a few hours snatched here and there between shifts if he was lucky.

Somehow he had learned to sleep through the noise of gunfire, to treat the sound of distant explosions as a bedtime lullaby, but there was always someone to shake him awake, to bring him back to the living hell that was everyday life in this city, in his city, in Warsaw. No matter how exhausted he was, he forced himself to get up and keep going. His wake-up call meant that there was someone needing his help. That was what it meant to be a doctor, that was his calling, even in the midst of this nightmare.

That was why he was here, sheltering in a half-destroyed house. It was the middle of the night, it should have been pitch black, but the smouldering city glowed bright in the darkness, the city that had burned night and day for weeks now, plumes of smoke rising high into the sky, thick, dark smoke that filled his lungs like deep despair. And then the burning night became brighter still as the searchlights lit up the night sky, crisscrossing the skyline in search of their quarry. The noise of the anti-aircraft fire was the signal that it was nearly time. If they made it, that was.

‘Poor bastards,’ observed the captain in the Polish Home Army standing beside him. He was smaller than Robert, but a big bear of a man, blond and bearded, with friendly but intense, sad eyes, eyes that had seen too much. ‘Poor, brave bastards. It’s a suicide mission for them. And it’s pointless, completely pointless. We can’t hold out much longer. We have no choice, either we fight or we die on our knees. But them.’ He shrugged, half in sympathy, half in admiration.

Robert couldn’t argue. They had held out longer than anyone had imagined possible, so much longer, even though they all knew that alone they were doomed. But his job was to try and help the sick and the injured as long as there was breath left in his body. And that was why he was here, hoping that they would find medical supplies as well as weapons and ammunition in the containers that were about to be dropped by the South African Air Force. His eyes strained to see what they had been waiting for, the heavy containers with their precious cargo floating to the ground, the impact softened by the small parachutes that slowed their descent.

Unbelievably the airdrop had landed more or less bang on target this time. Robert sent up a brief prayer of thanks to the airmen above, to the bomber crews who had delivered the gift of life this time. And he added a very special prayer that they would find their way home safely, back to their base in southern Italy. It was a crazy journey, well over 1,000 miles, at the very edge of their operational capacity, flying over seven different countries, high above the Carpathian Mountains. But they had made it. And now he hoped that they would make it back, these men whom he would never meet, these brave men who had risked their lives to help his city.

But there was no time to think about this as they dashed out to retrieve the twelve containers. One was marked ‘medical supplies’ and Robert opened it with his heart in his mouth, nearly crying when he saw what was inside.

‘We need to get out of here as quickly as possible and I need to get these supplies back to the field hospital. Is there someone who can help me?’ he asked the imposing captain. They had talked as they had whiled away the night hours together and he liked this man. It had felt almost normal, just talking, talking about their lives and families, about the things that were important to them. About anything and everything except for the madness unfolding outside. For a precious moment Robert had almost been able to forget about everything. But now it was time to face the reality of life once more.

‘Of course. I’ll send two of my men with you.’ They shook hands. The captain had a strong, firm handshake. They would probably never see one another again, but Robert had to ask.

‘Your name?’

‘Błaszczykowski, Jakub Błaszczykowski. But everyone just calls me Kuba.’

‘I’m Robert. Robert Lewandowski.’

***

The supplies helped, but they weren’t enough. The situation became worse and worse over the coming days. The city was being razed to the ground district by district, block by block. Robert and his colleagues were making plans to move the field hospital, but it wasn’t straightforward. And nobody knew where would be safe in the weeks ahead, if indeed anywhere would be.

He was dead on his feet one evening, he’d worked for twelve hours straight. He needed to lie down before he fell down. But his attention was attracted by someone coming onto the makeshift ward, clearly in a hurry and looking for him. It was Kuba, accompanied by one of the young soldiers who had helped him to carry the supplies back to the hospital.

‘We need a doctor. Urgently. Can you come?’

Robert didn’t even ask why. He pushed all thoughts of tiredness to one side and gathered what supplies he could. It wasn’t much, but they could improvise.

Kuba briefed him on the way. It was an all too familiar story these days. A building had collapsed. There were people trapped in the cellar. His men were desperately trying to clear a path to get them out safely. But then he explained why there was so much urgency. The building was being used as an orphanage. There were children trapped in the cellar.

‘And that was why I wanted a doctor if I could find one and I thought of you. I hoped that you might come, even when there is so much work to do in the hospital.’

‘Of course I would, I always would,’ was all that Robert said in reply.

It was early morning by the time they arrived at the scene. There were fewer patrols on the streets at night as it was too dangerous, but they still had to take cover a couple of times. An entrance had been dug into the buried cellar and braced with anything that the soldiers could find. Dusty children were starting to climb out. Robert checked them over, relieved to find that they were all unharmed. The last one out was an older boy, who had waited until the very last, and he had a chilling message for Robert. There were still four children inside, they were injured and he hadn’t wanted to move them.

‘I’m sorry,’ he sobbed slightly, his lip trembling even though he was still trying to be brave, ‘I stayed until the end. I didn’t know what to do. Maybe I should have stayed with them?’

Robert wanted to hug him, but he knew that would probably make him break down completely. So he ruffled the boy’s hair slightly, before placing a finger under his chin, tilting up his head.

‘What’s your name?’ he asked gently.

‘Łukasz.’

‘Well, Łukasz. You’ve been very brave. You did exactly the right thing. We’ll look after them now. And you need to be brave a little bit longer and look after the others. They are scared and frightened. And they need you now.’

Łukasz smiled at this, a faint, weak smile but a smile all the same, and Robert was pleased to see his shoulders straighten up. He would be alright. But now Robert had to keep his promise. He looked at the narrow passage into the cellar. He would fit through it, that was clear. Kuba stood beside him. ‘I can make myself very small,’ was all he said in response to Robert’s questioning look. And Robert couldn’t deny that he would feel better about this with Kuba by his side.

They crawled through the narrow tunnel, inhaling dust and debris as they went. Robert had to try hard not to laugh at Kuba’s colourful outbursts as he scraped himself on sharp pieces of masonry on the way. They found themselves in a large, dark space. Kuba lit a couple of candles to give Robert enough light to work. Luckily none of the children were seriously injured, but there were some broken bones that needed tending to and one of them was bleeding quite badly. Robert quickly staunched the bleeding, cleaning and binding the wound. And then the two of them made a makeshift stretcher and managed to push the little boy through the tunnel to safety.

One was safe. But it had taken time and the safety of the hours of darkness would soon be gone. They worked as fast as they could, Kuba making an excellent doctor’s assistant. They carefully straightened broken bones and made makeshift splints before pushing the children to safety. Robert was so thankful that he had brought some of their precious morphine with him.

The third child had been delivered to safety when he heard Kuba yelling. The tunnel was collapsing and the captain only just made it back into the cellar safely.

‘I’m afraid that we are stuck here until nightfall. I told my men to leave us here during the day, it's too risky otherwise. They’ll come back to get us out under the cover of darkness. Will she be alright?’ Kuba looked worriedly at the little girl who was still trapped with them in the cellar.

‘Yes, she is the least badly injured. That’s why she was the last. And I have enough morphine left. She should sleep most of the day.’

They gave her some water to drink and then Robert held her hand until she drifted off to sleep, stroking her hair back from her face.

And then he and Kuba settled down beside her, their backs against the wall, to wait it out until night fell. They had water and some field rations. And now they just had to hope that they would be rescued.

Robert was trying to stay calm and talking to Kuba helped. If it hadn’t been for the circumstances, it might even have been enjoyable. But he was tired, so very tired, his eyes were drooping, his head kept falling forward. To his complete horror, he jerked awake with no idea of how long he had been sleeping sprawled across Kuba.

‘I-I-I-I-I-’m sorry … I-I-I-I-I-I shouldn’t have,’ he stammered.

‘It’s alright,’ Kuba reassured him, ‘you’re exhausted. Go to sleep.’

There was a strange, soft look in Kuba’s eyes and Robert was far too tired to argue. Kuba pulled him over his lap and into his arms and Robert was never sure if he had dreamed the soft kiss planted against his dark hair as he drifted off to sleep. But what he did know was that he hadn’t slept as soundly as he did that day in Kuba’s arms, for weeks, for months, perhaps even for years.

He only woke when Kuba nudged him gently awake. ‘They've come back for us. I can hear them digging. It won’t be long now.’

Robert got up to check on the little girl, who was thankfully still sleeping.

Finally they were all standing outside once more, blanketed by the thick cover of the night, inhaling deep lungfuls of air after the hours spent in the damp, dusty, musty cellar.

Robert stretched out his hand for Kuba to shake. ‘It was a pleasure once again, Captain. Maybe we’ll meet again a third time?’

Kuba shook his hand with a grasp that was warm as well as firm. ‘I hope so, Dr Lewandowski. I really hope so.’

***

Their third meeting came right at the end of September. The field hospital had moved, there were only a few patients left. It wouldn’t be long now. The end was in sight. Once again Kuba came rushing in. He looked tired, worn down with care and worry.

‘Thank goodness I found you,’ he gasped out. ‘The end is coming. We’re going to surrender. I have a truck, one of the last left with petrol in the tank. Some of the children we rescued are in it. You need to take the patients you have that can be moved and get out. There are still a couple of roads free. One of my men will go with you and show you the way. If you go north, you can make contact with one of the resistance groups. Here are the details.’

Kuba thrust a piece of paper into Robert’s hand. He also gave him something else, something that made Robert’s blood run cold – a gun.

‘I know that you are a doctor, that you save lives, but you have to use it if anyone tries to stop you. Everything is destroyed and right now it seems like there is no hope. But we will survive, we will rebuild this city one day. And some of us have to survive to do that, to tell the story of what happened here.’

Robert nodded. Part of him didn’t want to leave, wanted to stay to the bitter end, but this time his duty was to try to take others to safety.

He turned to start gathering the things he needed when Kuba spoke again.

‘You know why I can’t go with you. I need to surrender with my men, to stay with them no matter what happens. But if I survive, I will find you again. We will meet for a fourth time. I promise you that I will make that happen if it is in my power to do so.’

They shook hands on that promise and this time their hands gripped each other tightly, almost as if they wanted to commit how each other felt to memory.

***

The surrender came two days later, on the 2nd of October 1944. Against all the odds they had held out for sixty-three days, but finally it was over. And against all the odds Robert had made it to safety and he and the children he had rescued managed to survive until the liberation. He had been strangely delighted to see that one of them was young Łukasz, who had been a strong leader to his little flock but was only too pleased to have Robert to share that load.

It had been in the autumn of 1945 that he had found the courage to return to the shattered and broken city he’d once called home. Looking around, it was hard to imagine that the city could ever rise again. But it would, he knew that. And he never forgot Kuba’s promise. The first step to rebuilding was to try and put families back together, so Robert made his way to the heart-breaking ‘office for family reconciliation’, with its notices desperately seeking news of loved ones and index cards of personal details. Every single one told a story of loss and carried a promise of hope.

Somehow, amidst all the chaos, families were put back together, even though painful gaps remained, an ever-present reminder of the terrible toll of war. Robert found his mother and sister again. And he found surviving family members for all the children in his care. Except for Łukasz. So Łukasz stayed with them as they tried to rebuild their lives, as Robert began to practice as a doctor once more. But he never gave up hope of finding Łukasz’s family and he made his way to that sad little office every month, just in case someone had tried to find him.

It was the spring of 1946. There were signs of life in the city again as Robert once more went to see if anyone had tried to make contact with his young charge. He had stopped telling Łukasz about these visits as the boy was settling down into his new life and seemed happy, But Robert never gave up hope. Displaced persons were coming back from all over Poland, from all over Europe, every month. There was still no news of Łukasz’s family but, as Robert turned to leave once more, the woman behind the desk called him back. They knew him well from his ceaseless efforts to trace his orphans’ relatives.

‘Mr Lewandowski, Dr Robert Lewandowski?’ she queried, ‘I think someone might be trying to find you.’

Robert took the index card with a trembling hand. He read the details on it. He didn’t think. If he thought about it, his courage might fail. He went straight to the address on the card, a room in a half-habitable, bombed out building. He knocked on the door. Kuba opened it. He was thin and careworn, but he was still Kuba. And he had kept his promise.

‘I might be about to make the biggest mistake in the world. And you can punch me or throw me down the stairs if you want. But so much has happened. There has been so much suffering, so much destruction, that I’m not willing to squander a chance of happiness if such a miracle is possible.’ Robert spoke without breathing, he was so nervous.

And then Robert flung his arms round Kuba and kissed him, feeling his beard faintly scratchy against his skin. To his relief and joy, he felt strong arms wrapping tightly around him, holding him close, squeezing him tightly, arms that never wanted to let him go. Kuba’s soft and strong lips on his felt like coming home. And the feeling that raced through him as Kuba opened his lips for him, as they kissed deeply and passionately, almost as if they were trying to swallow each other whole, made hope bubble up inside him for the first time in years.

They held each other close afterwards, not daring to let go in case they woke up and found that this was all a dream.

Kuba whispered in Robert’s ear, ‘I told you that we’d meet for a fourth time. I promised you.’

‘You did,’ sighed Robert, ‘and the fourth time was the best of all.’

And then they kissed, kissed until they were delirious with happiness and so dizzy with joy that the room seemed to revolve round them.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Scars That Heal](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11481423) by [mariothellama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariothellama/pseuds/mariothellama)




End file.
